Means for maintaining the suction capacity of a vacuum cleaner

ABSTRACT

Means for maintaining the suction capacity of a vacuum cleaner by providing inlet means into the internal compartment of the vacuum cleaner comprising a manifold conduit disposed through an inlet opening into said compartment and having at least two outlet ports in clearance position with respect to the inlet opening, the outlet ports being disposed in spaced relation to each other and also in-line and offset relation to the inlet opening, a filter receptacle being associated with each of the outlet ports, whereby the receptacle associated with the in-line port is adapted to first separate the dirt from an incoming stream of dirt-laden suction-induced air to be followed, if required, by the receptacle associated with the offset port.

1 United States Patent Robert Schnl Brooklyn, N.Y. 763,315

Sept. 27, 1968 Aug. 10, I971 Mil-An Mfg. Corp.

(72] lnventor I21 Appl. No [22] Filed [45] Patented [73] Assignee [54]MEANS FOR MAINTAINING THE SUCTION CAPACITY OF A VACUUM CLEANER 2,249,0137/1941 Levengood 55/372 3,177,635 4/1965 Cawlet al. 55/274 FOREIGNPATENTS 23,368 10/1911 Great Britain 55/342.

Primary Examiner-Frank W. Lutter Assistant Examiner-Bernard NozickAttorney-Friedman & Goodman ABSTRACT: Means for maintaining the suctioncapacity of a vacuum cleaner by providing inlet means into the internalcompartment of the vacuum cleaner comprising a manifold conduit disposedthrough an inlet opening into said compartment and having at least twooutlet ports in clearance position with respect to the inlet opening,the outlet ports being disposed in spaced relation to each other andalso in-line and offset relation to the inlet opening, a filterreceptacle being associated with each of the outlet ports, whereby thereceptacle associated with the in-line port is adapted to first separatethe [56] i c dirt from an incoming stream of dirt-laden suction-inducedair UNITED STATES PATENTS to be followed, if required, by the receptacleassociated with 1,672,001 6/1928 Serva et a1. 55/35 the offset port.

1 -1, l 1 r a Q Q MEANS FOR MAINTAINING THE SUCTION CAPACITY 7 OF AVACUUM CLEANER BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention Theinvention relates generally to an improved vacuum cleaner system andmore particularly to means for maintaining the porous walls of thefilter bag while the dirt is trapped in the bag; So long as there areunclogged wall openings through which air can pass the vacuum cleanerwill continue to operate. However, the more dirt that fills the bag, thefewer free or unclogged wall openings are available and, consequently,there is an increasing reduction in the suction capacity of thevacuum-cleaner, until finally when the bag is full there is little'or noair passing through the filter bag, effectively preventing furthercleaning action by the vacuum system. At this point the vacuum cleanermust be stopped and the bag replaced, or if it is a permanent-type bag,it must be emptied, It would, therefore, be of .tremendous advantage ifa vacuum assembly could be provided which would be able to filterdirtfrom dirt-laden air for a longer period of time, i.e., one in which thesuction capacity thereof is maintained for prolonged intervals.

SUMMARY OE THE INVENTION -lt,is, t-herefore, among one of the principalobjectives'of the invention, to provide a means for maintaining thesuction capacity of a vacuum cleaner so that it will operate moreefficiently and; for a longer period of time than present-dayvacuumcleaners.

In accordance with. the invention there is now provided inavacuum=cleanerhaving inlet means,lfilter receptacle meansincludingaporous wall associated with the inlet means, a suction-producing meansfor producing an airstream to flow from the-inlet: means and through thefilter receptacle means for separatingdirt entrained insaid airstreamand'depositing said dirt in the. filter receptacle means during thepassage -therethrough of the airstream from the inlet means andv throughthe porous wall of the filter receptacle means, an improvement tosaidinlet means comprising a manifoldconduit disposedthroughan inlet openingandhaving at least two. outlet ports in clearance position with-respectto the inlet openi'ng, one of said-1 outlet ports being disposed in linewith the DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring now to theFIGS. of the drawing, and specifically to FIG. 1, there is shown avacuum cleaner 10 of generally conventional construction and comprisinga housing 12 with a removable cover 13 defining'an interior compartment14 and an inlet opening 16 into the interior compartment. A motor 18 isprovided for producing suction whereby dirt-laden air will be drawn intothe interior compartment, as will be subsequently described. Two pairsof wheels 20, in spaced relation, are provided on the bottomexterior'o'fthe housing 12 for ease of movement of the vacuum cleanerfrom room to room. As is apparent, up to this point there has beendescribed a generally conventional vacuum cleaner body.

In accordance with the invention the vacuurn cleaner 10 is provided withmeans for maintaining its suction capacity which comprise a manifoldconduit 22 communicating into the interior compartment 14 by means ofthe inlet opening 16, a minor portion 24 of the manifold conduitremaining exteri orly of the interior compartment so that an air intakehose 26 .(shown by phantom lines) maybe connected thereto. A sup portcollar 28 secured along the inner periphery of the inlet opening 16serves to hold the manifold conduit in place, i.e., in vertical relationto the interior compartment, and the manifold conduit may be, in turn,secured thereto either by force-fitting it through the collar 28 or bysecuring it thereto such as by soldering when metal is involved orsuitable bonding when plastic is involved, it being understood that theconstruction of the invention cleaner maybe of metal or plastic or amixture of the two, as desired, this not being critical to theinvention. The manifold conduit 22'is provided, within the in teriorcompartment I4, with a first outlet port 32 and a second outlet port'30, said first and second outlet ports being in spaced relation in theflow direction of dirt-laden air inflowing into the housing 12 inresponse to the operation of the suction- I producing motor 18 and alsooriented in line and in offset relation to the conduit 22, as will besubsequently described. The

' first outlet port is defined by a right-angle sidearm tubular theloweropen end 38of the manifold conduit.

inlet openingand'athe other in offset relation thereto, and'said filter:receptacle means comprising a filter receptacle associatedrwithieach ofsaid outlet ports whereby'the receptacleon-.the.in.-line. port iseffective to first separate the dirt'from'the:

airstream to be; followed; if required, by the receptacleassociatedwiththe offset port, i.e., whereby there is-atleast onereceptacle which isunclogged and ineffective communicationwith-,thesuction-producing;meansso that flow of dirt-laden air ismaintained;

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OFTHE DRAWING A separate filter bag,.interposedbetween the manifold conduit l2 and. suction motor 18, is removablyattached to each outlet port. While the filter bag may be of thedisposable paper type, preferably, a disposable paper bag 42 is securedto the first outlet port 32 by inserting its neck over tubular member38, and a cloth or paper bag 40 (permanent or semipermanent) is insertedover the'second outlet port 30 via its hurl. 34. Conventional O'-rings44 may be used to hold the necks of the bags in airtightrelationovertheir respective outlet ports.

Describing now the operation of the invention, with the in take hose 26attached, the'motor 18 is turned on producing a suction sufficient tocause dirt-laden air to pass into the interior compartment in thedirection of the arrows. Bags 42 and 40 by virtue of their porous-walledconstruction allow the air to pass through the bags without appreciablyinterfering with the suction action of themotor. When the dirt particles50 entrained in' the airstream reach the in-Iine-positioned outlet port32 they arepreferentially drawn into filter bag 42, the suction beinginadequate at this time to affect the flow occurring past the outletport30'. As shown above, the dirt particles 50 are drawn into'the inletopening 16 and continue to be drawn through the main tubular bodyportion 36. This drawing action caused by the suction-maintains the dirtparticles 50 inmotion wherein the'dirt particles 50 acquire a momentumbefore reaching the outlet port 30. This momentum moves thedirtparticles 50 past the offset-positioned outlet port 30 towards thein line positioned outlet port 32, wherein the suction from port32 isnot sufficient enough to affect the dirt particles'50 to-move them fromthe path in which they are moving. As dirt particles 50 build up insidefilter bag 42, there is a diminishment of' suction at port 32 but thesuction action nevertheless continues unabated because of the suction tosupport airflow being applied through port 30, wherein the momentum ofthe dirt particles 50 acquired before reaching port 30 still tends tomove the dirt particles past the port 30, as set forth above. When thefilter bag 42 becomes full it is replaced, before any appreciablespillage of dirt is allowed to occur into the second filter bag 40. Ifcare to avoid this is taken, then the second filter bag 40 may be usedindefinitely. Of course, eventually it becomes advantageous to replacethis bag 40 also: however this is only after a considerable number offilter bags 42 have been replaced.

While FIG. 1 has illustrated the invention as applied to'the usual tankor cannister-type vacuum cleaner, reference to FIG. 2 will show theinvention as applied to the litter-vac type, in which the prior artheretofore has been unable to provide a disposable inner bag because ofits size and shape. Now, according to the invention two smaller innerbags can be pro vided to fit into a large outer bag.

The manifold conduit 22 of the invention is as earlier described, and itcommunicates into the interior of a large outer bag 60, shown by phantomlines. An inner in-line disposable paper bag 64 is secured to the firstoutlet port 32, and an inner permanent or semipermanent cloth or paperbag 62 is secured to the second outlet port 30, in a manner similar tothat described in the embodiment of FIG. 1. Suitable conventionalsuctionproducing means (not shown) are provided and the operation of theinvention is identical to that described for FIG. 1. That is to say,when dirt particles entrained in the airstream reach the in-line outletport .32 they are preferentially drawn into bag 64, and in subsequentoperation airflow is supported by suction applied through the secondoutlet port 30 whereby there is no diminishment of suction air in thevacuum system.

Thus, it can be seen by the operation of the invention that a means hasbeen found to maintain the suction capacity of a vacuum cleaner, orputting it another way, a means has been found so that initial suctionpressure throughout the vacuum system is maintained fairly constantlythroughout the vacuuming operation.

lclaim:

1. ln a vacuum cleaner having inlet means, filter receptacle meansincluding a porous wall associated with the inlet means, and asuction-producing means for producing an airstream to flow from theinlet means and through the filter receptacle means for separating dirtentrained in said airstream and depositing the same in the filterreceptacle means during the passage therethrough of the airstream fromthe inlet means and thorough the porous wall of the filter receptaclemeans, said inlet means comprising a manifold conduit disposed throughan inlet opening and having at least two outlet ports in clearanceposition with respect to the inlet opening, said outlet ports beingrespectively disposed in line with and in offset relation to the inletopening, said offset ports being disposed between the inlet opening andsaid in-line outlet port, and said filter receptacle means comprising afilter receptacle associated with each of said outlet ports, whereinmomentum of the dirt acquired before reaching said offset outlet portmoves the dirt past said offset outlet port towards said in-line outletport whereby said receptacle associated with said in-line out let portis effective to separate the dirt from the airstream prior to said otheroutlet port.

2. A vacuum cleaner according to claim 1 wherein a disposable filter bagis secured to in-line outlet port and a semipermanent filter bag issecured to said other outlet port.

3. A vacuum cleaner according to claim 2 wherein said manifold conduitfurther comprises a main tubular body portion, said offset outlet portbeing defined by a right-angle sidearm member integrally joined to saidbody portion, said in-line outlet port being defined by the lower openend of said tubular body portion.

4. A vacuum cleaner comprising a housing defining an internalcompartment, said housing having an inlet including a manifold conduitand a suction-producing means operatively arranged in clearancepositions from each other within said interna compartment, said manifoldconduit having at least two outlet ports in paced relation in the flowdirection of dirt laden air inflowing into said housing in response tothe operation of said suction-producing means, and oriented in line withand in offset relation to said flow direction, said offset outlet portbeing disposed between said inlet and said in-line outlet port, and aseparate filter bag removably operatively associated with each saidoutlet port located in an interposed position between said manifoldconduit and said suctionproducing means such that said inflowingdirt-laden air is drawn through said filter bags, wherein momentum ofthe dirt acquired before reaching said offset outlet port moves the dirtpass said offset outlet port towards said in line outlet port wherebysaid filter bag associated with said in-line outlet port is adapted tobe filled prior to said filter bag associated with said offset outletport.

5. A vacuum cleaner according to claim 4 wherein said filter bags aresecured about each of said outlet ports.

1. In a vacuum cleaner having inlet means, filter receptacle meansincluding a porous wall associated with the inlet means, and asuction-producing means for producing an airstream to flow from theinlet means and through the filter receptacle means for separating dirtentrained in said airstream and depositing the same in the filterreceptacle means during the passage therethrough of the airstream fromthe inlet means and through the porous wall of the filter receptaclemeans, said inlet means comprising a manifold conduit disposed throughan inlet opening and having at least two outlet ports in clearanceposition with reSpect to the inlet opening, said outlet ports beingrespectively disposed in line with and in offset relation to the inletopening, said offset outlet port being disposed between the inletopening and said in-line outlet port, and said filter receptacle meanscomprising a filter receptacle associated with each of said outletports, wherein momentum of the dirt acquired before reaching said offsetoutlet port moves the dirt past said offset outlet port towards saidin-line outlet port whereby said receptacle associated with said in-lineoutlet port is effective to separate the dirt from the airstream priorto said other outlet port.
 2. A vacuum cleaner according to claim 1wherein a disposable filter bag is secured to in-line outlet port and asemipermanent filter bag is secured to said other outlet port.
 3. Avacuum cleaner according to claim 2 wherein said manifold conduitfurther comprises a main tubular body portion, said offset outlet portbeing defined by a right-angle sidearm member integrally joined to saidbody portion, said in-line outlet port being defined by the lower openend of said tubular body portion.
 4. A vacuum cleaner comprising ahousing defining an internal compartment, said housing having an inletincluding a manifold conduit and a suction-producing means operativelyarranged in clearance positions from each other within said internalcompartment, said manifold conduit having at least two outlet ports inspaced relation in the flow direction of dirt-laden air inflowing intosaid housing in response to the operation of said suction-producingmeans, and oriented in line with and in offset relation to said flowdirection, said offset outlet port being disposed between said inlet andsaid in-line outlet port, and a separate filter bag removablyoperatively associated with each said outlet port located in aninterposed position between said manifold conduit and saidsuction-producing means such that said inflowing dirt-laden air is drawnthrough said filter bags, wherein momentum of the dirt acquired beforereaching said offset outlet port moves the dirt past said offset outletport towards said in-line outlet port whereby said filter bag associatedwith said in-line outlet port is adapted to be filled prior to saidfilter bag associated with said offset outlet port.
 5. A vacuum cleaneraccording to claim 4 wherein said filter bags are secured about each ofsaid outlet ports.